Henry M. Mathews
Henry M. Mathews | |
---|---|
Joseph Sprigg | |
Succeeded by | Robert White |
Personal details | |
Born | Frankford, Virginia (now West Virginia) | March 29, 1834
Died | April 28, 1884 Lewisburg, West Virginia | (aged 50)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Lucy Fry Mathews |
Parents |
|
Relatives | B.L. 1857 |
Profession | Politician |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Confederate States of America |
Branch/service | Confederate States Army |
Years of service | 1861–1864 |
Rank | Major of Artillery 1863–1864 |
Henry Mason Mathews (March 29, 1834 – April 28, 1884) was an American military officer, lawyer, and politician in the
Mathews was identified as a
Early life
Henry Mason Mathews was born on March 29, 1834, in Frankford, Virginia, U.S., (located in modern-day West Virginia) to Eliza Shore (née Reynolds) and Mason Mathews.[1][2] His family had been politically prominent in western Virginia for several generations, and his father was a merchant and politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates.[2][3] His ancestry was Scotch-Irish and/or Welsh.[4]
Mathews received a primary education at the local Lewisburg Academy, and afterward attended the
Mathews became active in local politics in the years proceeding the outbreak of the
Military service
There is but one sentiment here. Every man, young & old is ready at a minute's warning to defend the Old Commonwealth.
—H. M. Mathews letter to Virginia governor John Letcher, April 21, 1861[10]
Mathews chose to follow his home state of Virginia on its joining of the
Throughout the war, Mathews frequently ran into difficulties with the Confederate military. He contemplated leaving the army in 1863, and also in that year applied for a transfer from his uncle's brigade to Richmond, Virginia, though the results of this request are unclear. In the fall of 1864, he was arrested by orders of General Robert E. Lee due to a misunderstanding of a courier's message regarding ordnance movement. Lee dismissed the charges on receipt of Mathews' explanation.[12] By the end of 1864, Mathews had finally lost all enthusiasm for the war and was relieved from active duty at his request.[14]
Political career
Political rise
While at war Mathews' reputation as a leader had spread at home. In a post-war state dominated by the
At the conclusion of his term as attorney general, Mathews defeated
Governor of West Virginia
In his inaugural address, Mathews emphasized unity and progress in the wake of war, promising:
The legitimate results of the war have been accepted in good faith, and political parties are no longer aligned upon the dead issues of the past. We have ceased to look back mournfully, and have said "Let the dead past bury its dead," and with reorganized forces have moved up to the living issues of the present.[19]
Mathews' address was well-received across the state. The Republican Morgantown Post praised the "broad, manly, and liberal address, which possesses, to our mind, an honesty of purpose, and a freedom from disguise, that is truly refreshing."[20] His inaugural celebration, which included "flowers and flags and banners and music, feasting and revelry,"[20] had been a more elaborate affair than previous gubernatorial inaugurations in the state, setting a precedent that has continued to the present.[21]
On assembling his cabinet, Mathews sought to reduce post-war political tension.[22] He appointed both Republican and Democratic party members to his cabinet, a move that was uncommon in the post-war political climate.[2]
Great Railroad Strike
Awaiting Mathews in office were economic woes associated with the Panic of 1873 and the subsequent Long Depression. In July 1877, four months into his term, he was alerted that Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) workers in Martinsburg, West Virginia, had been stopping trains to protest wage cuts. Mathews called out local militia under Colonel Charles J. Faulkner to disperse the protest, but unbeknownst to Mathews, several in the company were rail workers themselves, and many others were sympathetic to the strike. The militia acted indecisively on arrival, and in the confusion a striker named William Vandergriff fired on the militia and was mortally wounded by return fire. Local papers blamed Mathews for the death and deemed Vandergriff a "martyr." The militia officially conveyed to Mathews that they would thereon refuse his orders.[23]
Mathews responded by sending another militia company—this time with no rail workers were among them—to address the growing strike, but he was informed that this company too would not act against the strikers.[24] Mathews finally complied with the urging of his administration to request Federal troops from newly elected President Rutherford B. Hayes. Mathews' decision to call for federal support garnered significant national notice to the strikes. Local newspapers were highly critical of the governor's characterization of the strikes to Hayes as an "insurrection" rather than an act of desperation, with one notable paper recorded a striking worker's perspective that, "[he] had might as well die by the bullet as to starve to death by inches."[25] Mathews' decision to call for federal assistance has been vindicated by historians, who have come to view federal involvement as inevitable.[25]
Hayes had vowed not to involve the Federal government in domestic matters during his candidacy several months prior, and he sought to solve the matter diplomatically. After failed negotiations with leaders of the railway "insurrection," he reluctantly dispatched Federal troops to Martinsburg. However, by this time the strike, by then referred to as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, had reverted to peaceful protest in Martinsburg while violence spread to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Missouri. The strike gained considerable support in other states across the country.[24][26]
In 1880, Mathews was again required to dispatch the militia, this time to Hawks Nest, West Virginia, to stop the state's first major coal strike, as miners from Hawks Nest were being threatened with violence to cease productivity by a rival constituent.[27]
Relocating the capitol
From 1863, when West Virginia was formed, through 1875, the capital of West Virginia had alternated between Wheeling and Charleston, with its location largely dependent on political party control of the state, with Republicans favoring Wheeling and Democrats favoring Charleston. Early in Mathews' administration, a vote was held to determine a permanent location for the capital, which was currently located in Wheeling. Three options of Charleston, Clarksburg, and Martinsurg were presented (Wheeling was not listed as a voting option). During the campaigning, state Democrats employed a young Booker T. Washington to engage in a speaking tour to consolidate Black opinion in favor of Charleston. Charleston won the vote, and has remained the state capital since.[28]
State debt and treasury
Questions of debt owed by West Virginia to Virginia persisted throughout Mathews' term in office. The question arose quickly when in 1863 West Virginia was created from the northwestern Virginia region. While both states recognized that a debt existed, determining the value of the debt proved difficult.[2] Virginia authorities had determined that West Virginia should assume approximately one-third of the state debt as of January 1, 1861 — the year Virginia was seceded from the United States, determining West Virginia's total to be $953,360.32. Mathews' advisers countered with the figure of $525,000. Another figure given to him by the Virginians was $7,000,000, owed by West Virginia to its eastern counterpart. Unable to determine the accuracy of these reports, and recognizing that the question had taken on political meaning, Mathews pursued policy intended to suspend a resolution until the specifics had become clear. His successor, Jacob B. Jackson, inherited the same problem and further suspended the resolution of the matter.[29] The argument dragged on throughout the 1800s and the debt was not retired until 1939.[30]
During Mathews' administration, Attorney General Robert White secured a decision by the United States Supreme Court in favor of levying taxes against the burgeoning railroad industry, which to that point had not paid any taxes to the State of West Virginia. This decision resulted in an influx of thousands of dollars into the State treasury.[31]
Race issues
Before the Civil War, western Virginia had a relatively low slave population compared to the eastern part of the state, or the South as a whole (4% in western Virginia as compared to about 30% in the South).
This fails to do justice to the flexibility of West Virginia Bourbons. The West Virginia Democrats who followed the Republican founders of the state included Governors Mathews, Jackson, Wilson, Fleming, and MacCorkle. These men were ready to adjust to changing political conditions and to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the federal Constitution, which conferred freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote and hold office upon former slaves.
From 1865 to 1957, West Virginia passed eleven Jim Crow laws under Democratic leadership. None of these were passed during Mathews' administration.[38] In 1881, following the ruling of the Strauder v. West Virginia Supreme Court case, Mathews reversed a 1873 state law that prohibited Black citizens from serving on juries.[39] In his closing address to the West Virginia legislature in January 1881, Mathews urged his fellow statesmen to adopt a progressive attitude towards the divisive issues that precipitated the Civil War:
It is necessary . . . to fully realize that institutions under which some of us were reared and which have left an enduring impress on our character, -- which have influenced not only our habits of living, but also our opinions and habits of thought -- are now of the past and no longer factors of existing social or political problems; that while the fundamental principles of our republican institutions are forever true and sufficient for all time, yet they must be adapted to the changed conditions produced by the result of the civil war, an increasing population and an advancing civilization. West Virginia should be aligned with the most progressive of her sister States, between whose institutions and her own there is no longer any conflict . . .[40]
Fast notes that the "liberal-minded" spirit of Mathews' administration received a setback during the campaign of his predecessor, Jacob B. Jackson, under whom "[t]he old sores of war were torn upon and bled afresh."[41]
Later life
Mathews retired from politics in 1881, at which point he returned to his law practice. He additionally served as president of the White Sulfur Springs Company (now The Greenbrier resort) following its post-war reopening. The resort became a place for many Southerners and Northerners alike to vacation, and the setting for many famous post-war reconciliations, including the White Sulphur Manifesto, which was the only political position issued by Robert E. Lee after the Civil War, that advocated the merging of the two societies. The resort went on to become a center of regional post-war society.[42]
Henry M. Mathews died unexpectedly on April 28, 1884, and is buried in the Old Stone Church cemetery in Lewisburg, West Virginia.[43]
Legacy
As West Virginia governor Mathews established a state immigration bureau to attract new workers to the state, expanded the coal and oil industries, improved transportation, and funded a state geological survey.[44] His administration at large has been characterized as "an era of good feeling," due to his appointing of Republicans to office during his Democratic tenure.[45][46]
Historian Mary L. Rickard, in the Calendar of the Henry Mason Mathews Letters and Papers in the State Department of Archives and History (1941), offered a critical analysis of his administration: "At this time there was less wealth per capita in West Virginia than in 1865, the result of which had a pronounced effect upon State politics. Those highest up in the social scale held the highest political positions and the entire organization became dangerously corrupt."[12] However, West Virginia historian Richard Fast notes that no committee to investigate any alleged scandal or mismanagement was appointed during Mathews' term.[22]
Fellow West Virginia Governor William A. MacCorkle, in Recollections of Fifty Years of West Virginia (1928), said of him: "He was not a good come-and-take debater, but when he had prepared himself to make an oration on the issues of the day, he was splendid. His oratory was easy, smooth, perfectly balanced, his voice was splendidly modulated, his gestures were perfect, and he could make as fine an impression on a rather cultivated audience as any man in the state."[47]
Because Mathews was the first state governor to call on federal troops in response to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, this action has been recognized as a catalyst that would help to transform the United States National Guard.[48]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g White, p. 431
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Addkinson-Simmons
- ^ Callahan, p. 7-9
- ^ Boots
- ^ Carmichael, p. 29
- OCLC 8899470. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Rice, p. 251
- ^ Rice, p. 254
- ^ Rice, p. 257
- ^ Curry, p. 50
- ^ Combs, p. 7
- ^ a b c Rickard, p. i
- ^ Stevenson, Carter. Report of Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson, C. S. Army, commanding Division: May 16, 1863.--Battle of Champion's Hill, or Baker's Creek, Miss.
- ^ Combs, p. 39
- ^ Talbott, D. "Duke" (2011). "Flick Amendment". e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. West Virginia Humanities Council. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Stealey, J.E. (2010). "Constitutional Convention of 1872". West Virginia: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- .
- OCLC 881290685. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Mathews, Henry M. (1877). "Inaugural address of Henry Mason Mathews". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Fast, p. 184
- ^ "Taking the Oath:150 Years of Gubernatorial Inaugurations; Chapter One: The Wheeling Years 1863-1885". West Virginia Archives and History. West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Fast, p. 185
- OCLC 721839184. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Bellesiles, p.149
- ^ a b Caplinger
- OCLC 40177032. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Bailey, Kenneth (2016). "Hawk's Nest Coal Company Strike". West Virginia: e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ a b Rice, p.475-476
- ISBN 978-0813118543. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Bailey, Kenneth (2010). "Virginia Debt Question". e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia.
- OCLC 670364755. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ "Antebellum Slavery". West Virginia Archives and History. West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ "Statistics on Slavery". Weber University. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Combs, p. 22
- ^ Rice, p. 312
- ^ Virginia, West (1905). Constitution of West Virginia as Adopted in 1872: With Amendments Since Made. Donnally Publishing Company. p. 30. Retrieved August 30, 2017 – via Internet Archive.
west virginia 1872 White and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school..
- JSTOR 2208047.
- ^ "Jim Crow Laws: West Virginia" (PDF). Jim Crow History. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ISBN 9780313341120. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- OCLC 34939564. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
- ^ Fast, p. 189–190
- ^ Robert E. Lee (August 26, 1868). "White Sulphur Manifesto". Retrieved August 26, 2010.
- ^ "Henry Mason Mathews". West Virginia Division of Culture and History. West Virginia State Archives. 2007. Archived from the original on February 17, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Rice, p. 457
- ^ Callahan1913
- ISBN 0403098432. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- OCLC 561733136.
- ^ Haskell, Bob (July 2014). "Off the Rails". National Guard Magazine. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
Bibliography
- Addkison-Simmons, Donna (2010). Henry Mason Mathews. e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- Boots, John R. (1970). The Mat(t)hews family: an anthology of Mathews lineages. Florida: Ocala, Florida. OCLC 133692.
- Callahan, James (1923). The History of West Virginia, Old and New, Volume II, pgs. 7–9. Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, Inc. OCLC 42346040. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- Caplinger, Michael (2003). "The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Martinsburg Shops National Historic Landmark Nomination" (PDF). pp. 40–45. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- Carmichael, Peter S. (2005). The Last Generation: Young Virginians in Peace, War, and Reunion. The University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 830651417.
- Combs, James Thurl (1987). Greenbrier, C.S.A. Wartime Letters of Mason Mathews to his son Captain Joseph William Mathews, C.S.A.,p. 5–44. Parsons, West Virginia: The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society. OCLC 13983198.
- Curry, Robert (1964). A House Divided: A Study of Statehood Politics and the Copperhead Movement in West Virginia. Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press. p. 50. OCLC 884520995.
- Fast, Richard (1901). The History and Government of West Virginia. West Virginia: Acme Publishing Company. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- National Governors Association (2003). "Gov. Henry Mason Mathews". National Governors Association. NGA. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- Rickard, Mary (1941). Calendar of the Henry Mason Mathews Letters and Papers in the State Department of Archives and History. Charleston, West Virginia: West Virginia Historical Records Survey. OCLC 23611963.
- OCLC 15539717.
- White, James T. (1904). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. OCLC 1007087389. Retrieved April 17, 2020.